Ali, a Bridgehead for K-Sellers' Overseas Expansion... "Commission and Deposit Waived for 5 Years" (Comprehensive)

'Global Selling Program' Announcement
Supporting Domestic Sellers to Sell AliExpress Products Overseas
0% Commission and 0 Deposit Policy Implemented for 5 Years
Support Including Overseas Shipping in Cooperation with Post Office and Automatic Translation Provided

"The Global Selling Program is a major project for us as well. We hope to contribute to Korean society, and through this channel, we want more sellers to have opportunities to expand overseas."

Ray Zhang, CEO of AliExpress Korea, explained the goals of the upcoming 'Global Selling Program' at the 'AliExpress Korea Seller Forum' held on the morning of the 25th at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas Hotel in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The program aims to help domestic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small business owners more easily enter overseas markets through AliExpress.

Ray Jang, CEO of AliExpress Korea, is giving a presentation at the "AliExpress Korea Seller Forum" held on the morning of the 25th at the Grand Intercontinental Seoul Parnas Hotel in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by AliExpress]

On the same day, AliExpress unveiled the new support program called the 'Global Selling Program' to assist Korean small business owners in expanding overseas. This program is a so-called 'reverse direct purchase' service that sells domestic products on Alibaba's B2C (business-to-consumer) platforms operating in foreign countries, and it does not charge sellers any fees or deposits.

The Global Selling Program is scheduled for official launch in October. Initially, it will target the United States, Spain, France, and Japan, with plans to gradually expand the countries and regions where sales are possible. The initial target countries for global selling were selected based on the popularity of Korean products in those countries, logistics infrastructure, and consumer purchasing power. Korean products will be labeled with 'Ship from Korea' to make it easy for overseas consumers to recognize them as Korean products.

Through the Global Selling Program, domestic sellers joining AliExpress Korea's 'K-Venue' channel can introduce their products to 150 million global consumers on AliExpress while continuing to sell in the Korean market. K-Venue is a dedicated sales channel for domestic products launched by AliExpress in October last year and operates similarly to an open market in existing e-commerce. Sellers list and sell products on K-Venue, and currently, AliExpress does not charge listing or sales fees for K-Venue.

In later stages, sales will also be possible through other e-commerce platforms operated by Alibaba Group, such as Lazada and Daraz. Initially, the program will focus on beauty and fashion categories and later expand to food and K-pop products, which are popular overseas.

CEO Ray Zhang said, "Since this is the initial stage of the Global Selling Program, the most important goal is to support sellers to use the service conveniently and sell well," adding, "Our hope is to support about 80% of beauty category sellers listed on K-Venue to expand overseas."

Ray Jang, CEO of AliExpress Korea, is giving a presentation at the "AliExpress Korea Seller Forum" held on the morning of the 25th at the Grand Intercontinental Seoul Parnas Hotel in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by AliExpress]

AliExpress expects the Global Selling Program to make it easier for domestic sellers, including SMEs and small business owners, to expand overseas and grow their businesses.

Through the Global Selling Program, AliExpress plans to guarantee zero fees and zero deposits for domestic small and medium-sized sellers for the next five years to minimize their burden. Additionally, it will provide ▲Korean language support programs ▲free multilingual translation systems ▲and automatic translation for customer service to alleviate the foreign language burden of global sales.

An environment has also been established to make it easy for sellers to use the Global Selling Program. Product registration information can be easily registered with a simple click, the same method used for listing on K-Venue domestically. Sellers can choose whether to unify or differentiate domestic and overseas sales conditions, and in the future, an automatic price-setting function by country will be provided.

Settlement for the Global Selling Program will be made within 15 days after the product is delivered to the customer, on a per-order basis. Payments will be made in US dollars (USD) through Alibaba Group's payment service, 'Alipay International.'

Domestic shipping for overseas sales will be supported through domestic logistics partners, and global shipping will also be facilitated in cooperation with Korea Post to reduce sellers' shipping burdens. However, overseas shipping costs are expected to be borne by consumers rather than AliExpress. CEO Ray Zhang said, "I think logistics costs should be included in the product price or charged separately. Since overseas consumers are purchasing Korean products, I expect they will willingly bear these costs."

Ray Jang, AliExpress Korea CEO (left), and Kyle Jang, AliExpress K-Venue Director, are answering questions at a press conference held on the morning of the 25th at the Grand Intercontinental Seoul Parnas Hotel in Gangnam-gu.
[Photo by Myunghwan Lee]

CEO Ray Zhang stated, "Globally, consumers are increasingly seeking Korean products with excellent design and quality. We planned this program to lower the entry barriers for domestic companies and sellers when entering overseas markets," adding, "Through global selling, we hope domestic sellers can expand their sales channels overseas and diversify their businesses without the burden of costs or language."

With AliExpress entering the reverse direct purchase market, competition in this sector is expected to intensify. Currently, global e-commerce companies such as eBay, Amazon, and Shopee operate reverse direct purchase programs supporting domestic small sellers' overseas expansion. Amazon, the world's largest e-commerce platform, launched a program in June to support Korean small cosmetics manufacturers' entry into the global market, and Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia, plans to expand overseas support focusing on beauty products. eBay is also accepting domestic sellers who want to enter the global eBay platform.

Among domestic e-commerce platforms, Coupang and Gmarket are helping domestic sellers expand overseas. Coupang operates Rocket Delivery services in Taiwan, selling products from domestic small and medium-sized businesses. Gmarket started a reverse direct purchase business in Mongolia in February and is considering expanding into Uzbekistan and Turkey.

Meanwhile, about 500 domestic sellers attended the forum that day.